INSIDE THE NUMBERS2008 - The last time Nebraska started a season 4-0, as the Huskers will bid for a 4-0 start against Tulane on Wednesday.

2,091 - Number of days since a Husker had 20 field goal attempts in a game, as Dylan Talley's 20 shots against UNO was the most by a Husker since Aleks Maric had 30 against Iowa State on Feb. 28, 2007.

5-to-0 - Assist-to-turnover ratio by reserve guards Trevor Menke and Mike Peltz in a combined 33 minutes of work against UNO on Sunday. On the year, they have a 9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

13-6-3 - Senior guard Dylan Talley is the only player in the Big Ten who is averaging at least 13 points, six rebounds and three assists per game entering this week's action. Talley is currently at 13.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 3.0 apg.

Huskers Look to Remain UnbeatenThe Nebraska men's basketball team continues action at the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic on Wednesday evening, as the Huskers host the Tulane Green Wave at the Devaney Center.

Tipoff for the Thanksgiving eve matchup with the Green Wave is slated for 7:05 p.m. and tickets are available for as little as $5 by visiting Huskers.com, by calling 1-800-8-BIGRED or by visiting the Devaney Center Ticket Office 90 minutes prior to tipoff.

Wednesday's game will be carried across the state on the 29-station Husker Sports Network, including primary flagship stations KLIN (1400 AM/94.5 FM) in Lincoln, KFAB (1110 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington, with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison calling all of the action. The game can be heard for free on Huskers.com and is also available on the Huskers' app on iOS or android devices.

Live video streaming of the Nebraska-Tulane contest will be carried on the Big Ten Digital Network (video.btn.com), as the Tulane game is the third of four regular-season Husker basketball games on BTDN in 2012-13. Wednesday's game will not be televised. Wednesday's game features the two remaining unbeatens in the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic, as Tulane has won all three of its contests (Bethune-Cookman, UNO, Chicago State), while the Huskers have downed Valparaiso and UNO in its two tournament games.

The Huskers relied on their three seniors in a 75-62 win over Nebraska-Omaha, as Dylan Talley, Andre Almeida and Brandon Ubel combined for 52 points and 19 rebounds. Talley scored a season-high 22 points and added five rebounds and four assists, while Almeida totaled a season-high 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting and matched his career high with seven rebounds. Ubel, who ranks among the Big Ten leaders in both scoring (16.7 ppg, eighth) and rebounding (7.7 rpg, fifth) added 11 points and seven rebounds to help Nebraska improve to 3-0 on the season.

The Huskers will face a challenge against a Tulane squad that is averaging 70.2 points per game and is riding a three-game win streak. Sophomore Ricky Terrant leads Tulane with 17.2 ppg and is a preseason first-team C-USA selection.

HUSKERS HOST JOE CIPRIANO CLASSICThe Joe Cipriano Classic features seven teams - Nebraska, Kent State, Valparaiso, Tulane, Nebraska-Omaha, Bethune-Cookman and Chicago State - playing four games apiece from Nov. 13 to Nov. 24. The Devaney Center will serve as one of the four host sites, and the Huskers will take on Valparaiso, Nebraska-Omaha, Tulane and Kent State during the next two weeks.

The event honors the many contributions of Joe Cipriano to the Nebraska basketball program. He served as the Huskers' head coach from 1963 until 1980, when he died of cancer just four days short of the start of his 18th season. His teams at Nebraska posted a 253-197 record and made three postseason appearances. He was a three-time Big Eight Coach of the Year (1967, 1978 and 1980) and his 253 wins at the time of his death were 167 more than any previous basketball head coach at Nebraska. Cipriano coached the Huskers to a 20-5 record and a No. 11 national ranking in 1965-66, the Huskers' first winning season in 15 years and the most wins at Nebraska since 1920. The team is considered by many to be the best basketball team in the program's 117-year history. The following season, he guided NU to its first postseason appearance, becoming the first Big Eight program to play in the NIT and his 1967-68 squad won the Big Eight Holiday Tournament, Nebraska's only title in the event's history. In the 1970s, his teams finished below the .500 mark only once, while his most successful Husker team of the decade was in 1977-78, which tied the school record for wins at the time with a 22-8 mark and reached the quarterfinals of the NIT.

The Cipriano family will be honored during the final night of the tournament on Saturday, Nov. 24 during a special halftime ceremony.

SCOUTING TULANEThe Green Wave comes to Lincoln with a 3-1 record and an experienced squad in 2012-13. Tulane welcomes back five players who started at least 15 games a year ago, including a trio of players who started all 31 games in 2011-12. Ed Conroy is in his third season at Tulane after spending four years at The Citadel. Tulane opened the season with a loss at Georgia Tech before rebounding with three straight victories in double figures, including a 79-51 rout of Chicago State on Sunday.

Sophomore Rickey Tarrant leads the Green Wave, as he averages 17.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. A preseason first-team C-USA selection, Terrant already has a pair of 20-point efforts and led Tulane in scoring at 15.2 ppg as a freshman. Junior Josh Davis gives Tulane a formidable force in the paint, averaging team highs in both scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounds (8.5 rpg) and comes into Wednesday's game with consecutive double doubles. Davis, who spent his first season at North Carolina State, also had a team-high 27 points in the Green Wave's loss at Georgia Tech. Tulane has shown a knack of getting to the foul line, averaging over 25 attempts per game in its first four contests.

NEBRASKA-TULANE SERIES HISTORYWednesday's matchup is the third meeting between the Huskers and Green Wave, but the first ever matchup in the regular season. Both of the previous meetings took place in the NIT, as Nebraska posted a 72-65 win in the first round of the 1983 NIT and a 90-78 win in the semifinals of the 1996 NIT in Madison Square Garden. In that game, Erick Strickland and Bernard Garner each totaled 20 points, as Nebraska set school postseason marks for free throws made (33), attempted (45) and steals (12).

LAST TIME OUTDylan Talley scored a Husker career high 22 points to lead four players in double figures, as the Huskers fought off a determined UNO squad, 75-62, at the Devaney Center on Sunday afternoon.

Talley, who also added four rebounds and five assists while playing a career-high 38 minutes, joined with fellow senior Andre Almeida in keying Nebraska's decisive 14-4 run which allowed the Huskers to seize control from the Mavericks.

The Huskers trailed 46-44 with 15:46 remaining before Almeida's offensive put-back started the run, as the senior scored on consecutive possessions to begin the surge. Almeida finished with a season-high 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting and matched his career best with seven rebounds. UNO, which was held without a field goal for 8:47, was within 50-48 after a pair of C.J. Carter free throws, but baskets by Brandon Ubel and Ray Gallegos pushed the lead to six before Talley connected on layups on back-to-back possessions to help Nebraska build its largest lead at the time at 58-48.

Almeida and Ubel combined to shoot 14-of-17 from the floor, as the Huskers enjoyed a 46-14 advantage in points in the paint against the Mavericks. Almeida's 19 points were one off his career high, as he connected on 9-of-11 from the floor and had five of his seven boards on the offensive end. In all, Nebraska had 16 offensive rebounds and turned them into 24 points to remain perfect at 3-0 on the season.

UNO (1-4) got to within 65-55 after a Marcus Tyus 3-pointer with 5:36 left, but Talley, who was 6-of-8 from the floor in the second half, held off the Mavericks' comeback hopes with a pair of baskets to make it a 68-55 game.

In addition to Almeida and Talley, Ubel and Gallegos both added 11 points apiece, as the Huskers scored a season high in points and committed only nine turnovers. The Huskers overcome poor shooting from distance, hitting only 3-of-22 from 3-point range while withstanding a UNO squad which was 8-of-13 from beyond the arc.

WORTH NOTING FROM THE VALPARAISO GAME•-Nebraska improved to 3-0 while the 75 points against UNO was a season high for the Huskers. NU also set season bests in rebounds (39) and assists (14) as well as field goals made (32).•-Dylan Talley scored a Nebraska career high 22 points, topping his previous NU high of 18 set last season against Oregon. Talley also added four assists and five rebounds, marking the second time he has led the Huskers in assists. Talley also played an NU best 38 minutes, the second straight game he has set a Husker personal best in minutes.•-Brandon Ubel and Ray Gallegos both reached double figures in each of Nebraska's first three games. It marks the first time that either player had reached double figures in three straight games in their career.•-Gallegos set a career high with seven rebounds, nearly doubling his previous best of four set against Creighton during the 2010-11 season.•-Andre Almeida had a season-high 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Almeida's effort was one off his career high of 20 set in his Husker debut. Almeida also tied a career high with seven rebounds. Almeida's 9-of-11 shooting effort was the best performance with at least 10 attempts since Brandon Richardson went 9-for-10 at Iowa on Jan. 26, 2012.•-Nebraska grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and converted into 24 second-chance points. It was NU's most offensive rebounds since grabbing 17 against Alcorn State on Dec. 17, 2011.

CREEP, WALK, CRAWL RUNWith four new starters and a 10-player rotation which featured three current or former walk-ons, it has taken some time to implement a new offensive system and the headline has been a common mantra of Coach Miles during his first season on the job. The Huskers are shooting 45.5 percent after three games after shooting just 40.3 percent in NU's lone exhibition game. Nebraska is also averaging just 11.0 turnovers per game despite having to replace its top three ball-handlers from last season. NU ranks fourth in turnovers per game in the Big Ten entering this week's action.

UBEL LOOKS TO EXPAND GAMEThe veteran of the Husker lineup, senior Brandon Ubel has become a focal point to Nebraska's attack this season. The senior from Overland Park, Kan., leads the Huskers in both scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg), ranking eighth in the Big Ten in scoring and fifth in rebounding. He is one of four players in the top 10 in the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding, joining preseason All-Americans Cody Zeller (Indiana) and Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State) and Wisconsin's Jered Berggren.

Ubel posted his second career double-double in the season opener, totaling 21 points and 12 rebounds against Southern. It was the first of three consecutive double figure games, as Ubel led NU in scoring with 17 points and added five rebounds against Valparaiso and added 11 points and seven rebounds in the win over UNO.

The 6-foot-10 forward is the Huskers' top returning rebounder (5.3 rpg) and second-leading scorer (6.7 ppg) and has the skills that could flourish in Tim Miles' new offensive system. Throughout his career, Ubel has been one of NU's top shooters, as he is a career 81.0 percent shooter from the foul line, including 82.5 percent during his junior year. He is now just five free throw attempts from qualifying for Nebraska's career list in free throw percentage, where he would rank fourth on the Husker career list. Ubel has the shooting range that reaches out to the 3-point line, including his freshman year when he went 11-of-21 from 3-point range.

Ubel closed out his junior season by playing some of the best basketball of his career, averaging 9.3 points on 68 percent shooting, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in the Huskers' final six contests. In his last nine games dating back to last season, he is averaging 11.7 points per game on 66 percent shooting.

He reached double figures in scoring seven times in 2011-12, including a season-high 17 points against Iowa on Feb. 28, on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the floor.

RETURN OF THE REDSHIRTSWhile Nebraska had six returning letterwinners back from the 2011-12 team, it is a pair of returning redshirts who have taken the slack from a lineup which lost four starters from last year. Senior center Andre Almeida and junior guard Ray Gallegos have played major roles early on.

Almeida missed all of last season following a knee injury after playing 30 games in 2010-11, but has been healthy this fall. He is averaging 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game and comes off one of the best games of his career against UNO on Sunday. Almeida totaled 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting, and matched his career best with seven rebounds. Almeida played a key role on the defensive end in NU's 50-48 win over Valparaiso with five rebounds and three blocked shots, marking the 13th time in his career he has had multiple blocked shots.

In 2010-11, he averaged 5.2 points on 56 percent shooting, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per game. Almeida reached double figures on five occasions, including a 20-point, seven-rebound effort in his debut against South Dakota. Two of Almeida's best efforts of 2010-11 came against a pair of top-five teams, as he had 10 points and seven rebounds at No. 3 Kansas and 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting and five rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench in Nebraska's win over third-ranked Texas. Almeida was a force on the defensive end, ranking sixth in the Big 12 in blocked shots.

Gallegos used his redshirt year to get stronger and worked on improving his all-around game and the signs have been evident early in the season. Gallegos is 19th in the Big Ten in scoring at 13.7 ppg while shooting 35 percent from 3-point range. He has been in double figures in all of NU's games in 2012-13, the first time in his career he has reached double figures in three consecutive games. Gallegos racked up a career-high 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in a career high 30 minutes against Southern and had 14 points, including a career high four 3-pointers, in the win over Valparaiso.

As a sophomore, he played in 25 games, including a start in the season opener, and averaged 2.8 points and 1.0 rebound per game. The Salt Lake City native's best game of 2010-11 came against Grambling, when he came off the bench for 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 22 minutes of action. Gallegos is one of NU's most experienced players, as he ranks second among Husker returnees in both games played (56) and starts (5).

TALLEY TAKES OFFENSIVE ROLESenior Dylan Talley came into the 2012-13 season as the Huskers' most proven scorer and has shown versatility early in the season. The 6-foot-5 senior enters Wednesday's game averaging 13.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game - the only player in the Big Ten averaging 13-6-3 entering the week. He ranks among the conference leaders in all three categories and comes off his best game of the year on Sunday against UNO. Talley totaled an NU high 22 points and added five rebounds and four assists in the Huskers' 75-62 win. Talley, who made only one start in 2011-12, totaled 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and grabbing seven rebounds against Southern. While he had only one point against Valparaiso, Talley led NU in rebounds (six) and assists (four) while holding Horizon League Player of the Year Ryan Broekhoff to just 2-of-11 shooting.

Talley tied for the Big Ten lead in scoring by a reserve, averaging 8.9 points per game, as he was in double figures 11 times in his first season as a Husker. Talley has been a prolific scorer throughout his collegiate career, earning America East Conference Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 2009-10, averaging 11.8 points per game at Binghamton University. At Blinn (Texas) College, he was sixth nationally in scoring at 23.0 points per game. In 51 career games at the Division I level, Talley has been in double figures 28 times.

PARKER MAKES A POINTThe lone freshman in the Husker starting lineup, Benny Parker joined a short list, becoming only the 10th freshman to start a season opener since 1995. Parker has been steady early on, averaging 7.7 points on 61 percent shooting and 1.7 assists per game. He had eight points - all coming in the second half - of Sunday's win against UNO after sitting most of the first half because of foul trouble. Parker had seven points, three rebounds and three assists in Thursday's win over Valparaiso. Parker had eight points and committed only one turnover in 31 minutes of action.

Parker was a four-year starter at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science, leading the school to an 85-15 mark and a pair of state titles during his high school career. As a senior, he averaged 24.8 points, 6.2 assists and 3.9 steals per game, winning the 2012 DiRenna Award, representing the top player in the Kansas City metro area.

Of Nebraska's three active point guards playing this season, two are Division I newcomers, as junior college transfer Mike Peltz joined the team in October. Sophomore Trevor Menke is the Huskers' other primary point guard, as junior college transfer Deverell Biggs will redshirt this season.

RIVERS LOOKS TO GET INTO OFFENSIVE FLOWThroughout the summer and the preseason, one Husker returnee who was flying under the radar was sophomore David Rivers. The 6-foot-7 wing totaled only 20 points and 16 rebounds in 19 contests as a freshman, but has added nearly 20 pounds since last year. Rivers' improvement has been evident early on, as he has averaged 4.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game as the Huskers' sixth man. Rivers had seven points and five rebounds against Valparaiso and established personal bests in minutes (27), rebounds (six) and assists (three) in the opener against Southern. That followed on the heels of an exhibition game where he had nine points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. Rivers was also 4-for-4 from the foul line after shooting 40 percent from the line as a freshman.

WILL EIGHT BE ENOUGH FOR THE HUSKERS IN 2012-13For the first three games, Nebraska relied on eight scholarship players, as Shavon Shields missed the first three games with an elbow injury and three players are sitting out. Of those eight scholarship players, a total which includes former walk-on Trevor Menke, only three saw action in NU's 2011-12 opener (Dylan Talley, Brandon Ubel and David Rivers).

SHIELDS LOOKS TO RETURN SOONNebraska Coach Tim Miles announced on Nov. 5, that Shavon Shields underwent surgery on Nov. 2 to clear up an infection that developed from a bursa sac rupture. Shields, who was one of the front runners for extensive playing time, could return to action by the end of the Joe Cipriano Classic, as he was cleared to return to practice on Tuesday.